Shelby: Fashion Forward

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Okay let's be honest, I've never really been a fashion forward girl. In high school my typical attire consisted of flip flops, shorts (I live in Florida so this was a whole year love affair with "jorts", jean shorts), and a t-shirt. Pretty boring. Once I got up here to college I began to branch out and actually wear some cute clothes and *gasp* dresses. So imagine my surprise when I was contacted by one of my sorority sisters from North Carolina State University who had just launched a new clothing line, Game Day apparel, and wanted ME to go to her debut fashion show! Knowing that you, my little proteges, are very fashion forward (since you read such a fashionable blog written for such a fashionable magazine), I gladly accepted and asked my sister, Wendy Newell, a few questions about the real ins and outs of the world of fashion, and her new line of clothes, Pigskins and Ponytails.

Wendy Newell: Well my business partner and I were neighbors, and we both had fashion industry backgrounds, so we thought it would be really great to work together on something. At the time I was going to a lot of Florida home games because my good friend had season tickets, and I always wanted to find something to wear in the team colors, but I didn't want a big logo or mascot all over me so every single time I would go to a game I would have to search through my entire wardrobe to find something cute to wear. Then one game day it just struck me-- if I'm having problems finding a dress to wear to Game Day then I'm sure all the girls here have been going crazy! So that's when I proposed to my business partner that we make this line of clothes. She loved the idea and added the fundraising element to our line of clothing so we could give back to the community and we basically combined the two ideas to get Pigskins and Ponytails.

WN: It's been great! We've been very well received, it's just been awesome.

S: I know that many Seventeen readers have thought about becoming fashion designers in the future. What advice would you give someone who is really serious about becoming a designer?

WN: I think what's really helped me and my business partner is that we both have a strong background in fashion. I went to North Carolina State University, but they didn't offer any fashion classes, so I took classes like fashion merchandising and fashion design at a school right down the street, Meredith College. From there I got into the fashion industry. I was a fashion merchandiser for Liz Claiborne for many years, and worked heavily in department stores. I learned SO much from my first job: everything from the different cuts, to garment construction, the different fabrics, and all the ins and outs of the real fashion world. I think for anyone who really wants to do this, they need to go intern with a local designer or get a job that deals with fashion and merchandising. Experience has been

WN: Well, because we are brand new, I think the next thing for us is really just to get our name out there. We've just finished our website and now we're working on events, getting into boutiques, doing fashion shows, basically anything that will let people know who we are.